Emerging Artists | Nancy Romanovsky - Southwest Art Magazine

Odes to the Copper State

Tour of the Superstitions, oil, 8 x 26.

This story was featured in the September 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art September 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

PEPPERED WITH scenic portrayals of deserts, rivers, forests, and canyons, Nancy Romanovsky’s oeuvre of oil paintings can nearly always be traced back to the hikes she routinely takes into the backcountry of her native Arizona, from the Superstition Mountains to the Mogollon Rim. Even before she embarked on her fine-art career, says the Phoenix-area artist, “I was always intrigued by the design of nature itself—the line of a tree, or the way the light falls. I think my appreciation for nature and my eye for design all kind of culminated when I started painting full time.”

: Nancy Romanovsky, Interlude, oil, 16 x 12.

: Nancy Romanovsky, A River Runs Through It, oil, 12 x 16.

: Nancy Romanovsky, Caught in the Middle, oil, 11 x 14.

Romanovsky was a young girl when she first learned to paint in oils, and while she relished both drawing and painting back then, she ended up studying graphic design, business, and marketing in college; she worked in those fields for many years. Shortly before her 40th birthday, however, a friend asked if she’d take a painting class with her. That’s when her passion for fine art was rekindled, recalls Romanovsky. As for the class itself, she adds, “It was a terrible choice for me—it was abstract art—but the feel of the brushes and the paint overwhelmed me with this feeling of nostalgia.”

With a renewed excitement for painting, the artist promptly enrolled in classes at the Scottsdale Artists’ School, where workshops with artists like Arizona landscape painter Matt Smith were particularly inspiring. Like Smith, Romanovsky found herself instinctively turning to her Southwestern homeland for inspiration—and not just its iconic deserts and mountains. Almost immediately, “I started painting aspen trees,” she says, describing her love for the sound of aspen leaves rustling in the breeze, for the beautifully patterned bark, and for the “one giant root system” aspen groves share.

: Nancy Romanovsky, Aspen Slope, oil, 12 x 16.

: Nancy Romanovsky, Desert Geometry, oil, 20 x 16.

: Nancy Romanovsky, Jewel of the Creek, oil, 12 x 16.

It quickly became clear to Romanovsky that her newly stoked passion was more than just a casual hobby. Soon after turning 40, she made the leap to painting full time. Today, a decade later, the award-winning artist’s work includes scenery in the Pacific Northwest, where she and her husband own a tree farm of Douglas firs. Trees, no matter where they’re rooted, remain one of her favorite subjects. “One thing about painting trees is they’re not a portrait. Nobody is going to say, ‘That’s not that tree,’” she says, chuckling. “They are a little forgiving, but each one has its own character.” —Kim Agricola

representation
Esprit Decor Gallery, Phoenix, AZ; {9} The Gallery, Phoenix, AZ; www.nancyromanovsky.com.